7. Harrington: Nuggets more upside than Mavs1. Mike Miller in Miami, plans to sign with Heat on Thursday

THe Miami Herald is reporting "After days of delays over paperwork procedures, free agent Mike Miller is in Miami to make his commitment official.

Miller agreed to a five-year deal with the Heat on Monday and is expected to sign his contract Thursday. One of the reasons for the holdup was that forward Michael Beasley, traded by the Heat last week, needed to get to Minnesota to complete his physical and clear his $4.9 million salary off Miami’s slate of contracts.

During an interview with a Memphis radio station Wednesday, Miller said he was “waiting on one thing” to get done before he finalizes his contract.

“I’m excited about it,” Miller told the station. “It’s a good opportunity.”

Miller arrived in Miami on Wednesday and is scheduled to travel to the Memphis area Thursday to prepare for his weekend of charity events in nearby Tunica, Miss.

A former standout at the University of Florida, Miller is expected to be the complementary shooter the Heat needs alongside its star-studded nucleus of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. James and forward Udonis Haslem aggressively recruited Miller, who will earn about $25 million over five seasons."

The AZ republic is reporting "The trades were finalized Wednesday, setting forth a new era in Suns basketball.

Yes, Amar’e Stoudemire is gone, but the acquisitions of 6-foot-10 versatile forward Hedo Turkoglu and wing Josh Childress might make the All-Star’s absence easier for Phoenix fans to stomach.

The Suns sent reserve guard Leandro Barbosa and big man Dwayne Jones to Toronto for Turkoglu, a player they had coveted in the past. They snagged Childress in a sign-and-trade deal with Atlanta, giving up their 2012 second-round draft pick in the process.

"We lost Amar’e, but (we) picked up some good pieces that can hopefully do what he did," Childress said upon introduction to Valley media. "It might take two or three guys to do it, but he was an integral part of this team. At the same time, with a guy like Steve Nash, you’re going to have a good, cohesive unit on the floor, and he’s going to bring that (unselfish) mentality to everyone."

The first Turkish-born player in NBA history, Turkoglu, 31, is one of three forwards who have averaged at least four assists in each of the past three seasons, joining Miami’s LeBron James and Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala. With the Raptors last season, Turkoglu averaged 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He shot 37.4 percent from 3-point range."

Yahoo Sports is reporting "As much as Tracy McGrady has wanted to play with LeBron James for the past two seasons, it’s still unclear if the Miami Heat are prepared to offer him a contract. Nevertheless, league sources say a fresh possibility for NBA employment has surfaced for McGrady: the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers have had conversations with McGrady’s agent, and team officials could soon decide to watch him work out for a closer inspection. With Travis Outlaw signing a free-agent contract with the New Jersey Nets, the Clippers are resolved to sign a swingman with some scoring punch off the bench. They’ve spent the last few days gathering information on McGrady and deciding how they want to proceed."

The Houston Chronicle is reporting "The Rockets needed less than 24 hours and one phone call and the decision was done.

Guard Kyle Lowry had signed an offer sheet with the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey made his call to Rockets owner Leslie Alexander and had Alexander’s blessing to match the offer as long promised.

The Rockets will not make it official until the end of one-week period to consider the offer sheet, but Morey wasted little announcing the team’s decision

"We had a plan in February to bring our guys back, a pretty straight-forward plan," Morey said of the Rockets’ planning at the trade deadline when they chose to move into luxury tax territory to keep the team together. "We feel like we’re going to have a special year. Kyle and Luis (Scola, also a restricted free agent) are a big part of that."

Lowry’s deal is worth $23.5 million over four years, according to a person familiar with the contract. The final season of the contract is worth $6.25 million, with $1 million guaranteed."

The New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting "The New Orleans Hornets will not offer free agent shooting guard Luther Head a contract because he had some physical issues during his physical examination that was a concern of the Hornets’ medical staff. league sources said Wednesday.

Earlier this week Head and the Hornets had agreed to a two-year contract that was contingent on him passing his physical. Sources said the decision not to offer Head a contract did not have anything to do with general manager Jeff Bower and the Hornets mutually agreeing to part ways on Tuesday."

The Ny Dialy is reporting Knicks president Donnie Walsh took LeBron James’ decision to shun New York particularly hard. But he’s not going to pay for it with his job, because team owner Jim Dolan isn’t expected to start handing out pink slips, although with Dolan, you never know.

His decision to send Isiah Thomas on a last-ditch recruiting effort to get James was more evidence that Walsh doesn’t have full autonomy over basketball operations. Not that we thought he ever had that, completely, since coming in to take over for Thomas. Because Dolan is Dolan and he still reveres Thomas.

But Walsh appears to be safe, as do other Knick executives who did not deliver the No. 1 free agent to go on the market since Kobe Bryant in 2004.

"I don’t see anybody getting fired," said an NBA executive who has had dealings with D
olan. "(Dolan) is the sort of guy who cares about making a plan and sticking to the plan, and if it doesn’t work, then as long as everyone did everything in their control to get it done, then he can live with it."

Still, it doesn’t make it any easier for Walsh, who gutted the Knicks the last two years with the sole idea of landing James this summer. His grand plan had James and Bosh coming to the Garden, only to see them go to play with Dwyane Wade in Miami."

Nba Fanhouse is reporting Believing he has five "very effective" seasons left in him, Al Harrington will try to spend them in Denver (a reported $33.4 million should help). In an interview Wednesday with FanHouse at the NBA Summer League, Harrington offered his reasons why. "Because I just think this team (Denver) got a little bit more potential (than Dallas)," Harrington said. "Being able to play with (Denver point guard) Chauncey Billups is huge for me. Me and Chauncey have worked out in the summer the last 12 summers. So I’m very familiar with him, and he did a lot. He talked to me a lot about it also, so it made me more comfortable in my decision."